Clarity
It feels so cold
Where am I?
I open my eyes, it's so bright. I see people walking everywhere and hear the cars honking. I see some homeless guy screaming at himself and a young teen blasting what I can only assume to be his half baked attempt at rap music. Apart from the shitty mixtape I also see someone sagging their pants to their ankles screaming at someone with a red bandana as well as making hand signs at them, as if to scare them off of his territory. All accompanied by two oversized rats fighting over pizza. Yep, I remember now. We’re in New York.
Celeste takes a deep breath,
“Ahhhh home sweet home… for you…”
That's right, this is the street I died on according to Celeste. We stood at the top of an arched entrance of the train station he mentioned. I asked him quietly,
“Celeste, how come no one sees us?”
A shit eating grin sprawled across his face, as if he was ready for adventure.
“Well, you're technically a Guardian like me right now and we’re almost invisible to regular people!”
How strange,
“So I can’t go back to my normal life?”
*Boo Womp*
His excitement vanished leaving him looking in such disgust and disappointment.
“You literally died. I renamed you and gave you shelter from damnation just to be abandoned the moment you return to the mortal realm? How cruel O1, my heart’s in pieces right now…”
The scent of bullshit is strong with this one.
“So what now?”
He looked at me like he was eager to begin yet doesn't want to start yet. Like he’s… edging himself? No, that sounds dirty… He's more or less curbing his enthusiasm.
“I need to know what you want to achieve O1, you don't truly care for reformation like I do since you just learned about this afterlife, what's your goal here?”
I thought deeply. I definitely reincarnated to avoid damnation no doubt about it, but something plagues me. Like a sneeze you just couldn't get out. Do I have unfinished business? Wait, how would I know I have no memories of my past.
…
What was my favorite food?
I remember liking manga, which was my favorite? Did I have friends? My family must be worried too but I don't think I can return to being human again… I'm not too sure what a guardian even is… Celeste looks like a 27 year old guy, maybe he’s human? That's not even a question I care too much about though. What school did I go to? I was 19 so maybe I was a college student. What was my major? Was I well liked too? Maybe if I had friends. Was I well liked by girls? Did I have a girlfriend?
…
I hope I didn't die a virgin…
“Celeste…”
He pretended to snore but he was so obviously awake. I gotta get used to his indecency.
“HUH??? Oh yeah… what's your end goal in all this, O1.”
I sighed,
“I want to know what kind of person I was before I died.”
He nodded,
“Yeah I don't care lmao”
Rude.
“Maybe you'll find out as we reform and kill everyone and shit.”
Extreme but reasonable, if these Spirit Executers are as wild and strong as Celeste says then it's gotta be an ultimatum.
“Okay! O1, let's go down this train station!”
What?
“What?”
“What?”
We looked at each other… confused.
“I mean you're obviously not the only one I’ve recruited!”
We went down the escalator and into track 20 of the Long Island Rail Road, strangely enough people were rushing into the train but avoiding a strange translucent door. Is it only visible to us?
“Celeste?”
“Yeah gimme a sec I may have left the key in my other pants…”
Concerning.
“Oh wait, I almost forgot my ability!”
He opens the door instantaneously?!
“What? Why even use a key??”
He smirked and said,
“They’ll least expect it!”
He slams open the door like he owns the place. He probably does now that I think about it.
“I'm home guys!!!”
An empty lounge laid bare…
“These fuckers…”
He sat down and instructed me to wait as well for the others.
“This is why I hate Gen Z”
Gen Z? Well, no reason to ask.
“Zoomers just leaving without notice. I'm basically their caretaker…” he mumbled.
I checked the calendar as he continued to mumble to himself. December 1st 2022… If I’m 19 I guess I was born in 2003… Why didn't he tell me the date?
“Because you never asked, O1”
Again reading my thoughts, what kind of power does he have? He told me to have a seat in the lounge as he made coffee.
“Black right? I’m assuming because you're latino.”
Before I could reveal my distaste for coffee as a whole he threw a volume of Jujutsu Kaisen at me.
“The guy in the blind fold is my favorite!”
I read the volume… no wonder he likes Gojo, he acts like him…
“Yeah! I know I’m just a shit copy of him! Can't wait till Sockks gets lazy and writes in a domain expansion for me!”
I look on in confusion.
“Nah probably not… There's a legitimate reason I want to kill those guys.”
Reformation wasn't legitimate enough? Wait this is the first time I’ve seen him seem genuine about a negative emotion… he looks sad. Before I can ask him he interrupts me saying that he doesn't feel comfortable saying ‘backstory’ yet.
A Pause
“You’ve ever seen Back to the Future?”
Obviously not, I don't even remember anything…
Celeste pops in a rectangle into a bigger rectangle.
“Sorry I only got it on VHS.”
He manifested popcorn into existence and passed it to me as he got up to put its microwavable counterpart into the appliance.
“Suspicious…”
“Well I only started doing that a week ago, If anything your regen will save you…”
Just one bite. It tasted strangely good. Wait, this means I can taste now… maybe I am human. I want to ask Celeste what we are…
“Hey-”
“SHUT UP THE MOVIE IS STARTING!!”
We began a movie marathon solely consisting of Back to the Future and all 10 seasons of Rick and Morty. As Celeste watched in awe I looked back to the door behind us waiting for someone to come home.
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